Episode 5 (S2)
Characters In Order of Appearance *Natsu Takasaki *Eiichiro Maruo *Ryuhei Aoi *Yukichi Fukazawa *Yusaku Miura *Takuma Egawa *Soji Ike *Masumi Makihara Summary Everyone notices how Eiichiro's movements get better during practices. As Eiichiro is about to confess to Natsu, he gets interrupted by Takuma which later, causes Takuma to accept Eiichiro's request for a practice match. During the match, Eiichiro learns the importance of a powerful serve and tries to imitate Takuma. Just as he managed to hit a powerful serve, Coach Aoi stops the match as it may cause Eiichiro to get injured. Synopsis When Eiichiro returns at STC, he is welcomed by Natsu and others. While Natsu comments that Eiichiro's appearance has not changed, Coach Aoi remarks that something has changed inside Eiichiro. During practice, Eiichiro's form has seen to be improving but not enough from winning All-Japan Junior Tennis Tournament. He also starts regimens for further improvement of his control. After the practices, Eiichiro and Natsu leave the STC premises together and misses Takuma who is searching for Natsu. Natsu wants to walk because she wants to listen on Eiichiro's experiences in Florida. He remembers Ike's message, thus, he asks Natsu about it but Natsu avoids in answering the question. They also talk about how Natsu becomes "Ike's fiancée" which makes Eiichiro a little bit jealous. As Eiichiro tries to confess his feelings to Natsu, Takuma suddenly appears and abruptly ends Eiichiro's confession. At home, Eiichiro feels embarrassed of losing such a perfect opportunity but tries to become optimistic instead. On the other hand, Takuma does not expect Eiichiro to confess his feelings this fast while he has not confessed to her even though he has had feelings for her for ten years. He asks Natsu about her feelings to Eiichiro. He becomes depressed when he learns that Natsu likes Eiichiro. At one of STC practices, while Eiichiro and Yukichi are doing push-ups as penalty, Coach Aoi reminds them to push the players' limits for the tournament without hesitation because they will be stopped when in danger. He also informs Eiichiro that Eiichiro has to convince Takuma to have a match against him. While Eiichiro is about to ask Takuma about the match, Takuma interrupts him to ask about his confession to Natsu. After getting the answer, Takuma tries to leave but is stopped by Eiichiro to convince him for a match. Takuma accepts the match because he is in the mood to crush Eiichiro. At the start of the match, Eiichiro is easily dominated by Takuma due to Takuma's serves while he manages to keep his service game due to improved control. Takuma notices Eiichiro's improvement and his rapid growth similar to Ike's. While Takuma acknowledges Eiichiro, he thinks whether it (that talent) can be used to make a living. After the seventh game, Coach Miura and Coach Aoi are commenting on Takuma's serves and how it helps Takuma in his matches. Eiichiro also realizes how important powerful serves are during a match. Thus, on his following service games, Eiichiro tries to imitate Takuma's serve while on his return games, he gathers data on how Takuma serves. After several attempts, Eiichiro has finally landed a powerful serve which leads Takuma to miss timing and forces to use a drop shot. Just as Eiichiro is getting pumped up due to his successful execution of a powerful serve, Coach Aoi interrupts in order to stop the match. He is afraid that Eiichiro may get injured if the match continues. Eiichiro tries to convince Takuma to continue but to no avail. Manga & Anime Differences * The scenes only present in manga: ** Eiichiro returns to STC two days after arriving in Japan. When Natsu and others approach Eiichiro, Eiichiro thought about the conversation being in Japanese. ** Eiichiro's monologue about how much he had gained during his short stay in Florida during the practice against Yukichi. ** Eiichiro showing the pictures of his friends he made in Florida ** Coach Aoi suggests to enjoy the penalty - a way of motivating oneself to enjoy critical moments instead of despising it. ** While preparing for the match between Eiichiro and Takuma, Eiichiro wonders if Takuma has feelings for Natsu but stops thinking about it as having a match against Takuma is more important during that time ** How Eiichiro realizes the importance of serve and Takuma having "errors" in his hard shots (see Chapter 94 and Chapter 95) ** A more detailed explanation on Eiichiro's strategies in his match against Takuma * The scenes only present in anime: ** Takuma searching for Natsu in STC after Natsu and Eiichiro just left the premises ** Takuma talks to Natsu about her feelings to Eiichiro ** While Takuma is about to go home, the bus where Natsu is on-board passes and Natsu waves at Takuma ** Conversation of Natsu and Masumi as Natsu is about to leave * When the list of tennis tournaments was shown, All-Japan Junior Indoor Selectionals (January) is already crossed-out in the manga while it is not in the anime. * When Coach Aoi, Yukichi and Eiichiro are having conversation in front of STC reception, in the manga, they are talking about Yukichi planning to go to America while in the anime, they are talking on what Eiichiro had learned in Florida. * When Eiichiro was forced to do push-ups as penalty, in the anime, the man who ordered it is wearing a cap while in the manga, he is not. * When Coach Aoi mentions practice matches for that day, ** In the anime, Coach Aoi mentions it while Eiichiro and Yukichi are doing push-ups ** In the manga, Coach Aoi mentions it before the start of the practice match. Also, aside from Yukichi and Eiichiro, there are other players present for the practice matches for that day. * When Eiichiro is about to ask Takuma for a match, in the manga, they are still inside the STC building while in the anime, they are outside. * When Takuma accepts Eiichiro's challenge for a match, in the manga, they will meet at Court 1 in 15 minutes while in the anime, they will meet at Court 1 in sundown. Trivia * In the list of tennis tournaments shown in the anime, All-Japan Junior Indoor Selectionals (January) should be crossed-out since Eiichiro lost in All-Japan Junior Indoor Selectionals, Kantou Preliminaries. * The names of Takuma's hamsters are given in the guidebook. The one with opened eyes and in brown color is named Chako (チャコ) while the one with closed eyes and in white color is named Shiro (シロ). Navigation Category:Season 2 Category:Return to Japan Arc Category:Volume 1 (DVD) (S2)